[ Books & Authors ] Open Question : What experiences lead to Holden Caulfield’s character traits and general mood? Is he a static or changing boy?

Holden Caulfield likes to refer to many adults as “phony.” He is judgmental of everyone and everything around him. He likes to lie, going so far as to tell a women he has a brain tumor.

Having read the novel once over, I am curious to know what events throughout the novel create or lend themselves to Holden’s character traits and general bad mood. Other than failing school, the death of Allie, his relation to Phoebe, and the estranged relation between himself and his parents, what other people or events lead to his overall mood and character traits?

On a side note, with what character traits I picked out, I felt that Holden’s character never changed between the beginning and end, thus making the novel pointless, as all novel’s have some central issue or topic that is resolved at end, and in this case, it should have been Holden’s outlook on life. Do you believe that Holden is the same from beginning to end, or does he change?

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